bigtrev503

PM inbound to the ever helpful, infinitely awesome, Troopermaster Paul!

I've come to the point where I need to make my TD clips. Everyone says "just take some aluminum flat bar and bend it." Well what kind of store sells it? Are the bankers clips acceptable anymore? I want to do it with real aluuminum flat bar if possible. Is it at the hardware store? Is it expensive? All help is greatly appreciated!

Oh, I did that. I've also seen loops on origial belts that get all snagged and frayed from rubbing on the snap, so I'm putting the cut edge toward the inside for added accuracy!

Ok, crisis averted. I'm not gonna sell my kit on ebay for $14.99 Had to have a drink and calm myself lol Onward! I had been upset because very early in my build I got webbing for the boxes. Now I can see that is unacceptable. I didn't want to take another trip to the fabric store so I converted my 2 inch elastic (left) into 1 inch elastic (right)! Tutorial below: TUTORIAL: I cut it in half

I used 2 inch white elastic on the shoulders, 1 inch black elastic for all the connections, 3 inch black elastic for the thighs, and the black nylon webbing in squares for my snap plates. Plus you'll need 1 inch white elastic for the drop boxes and 1/16(?) inch elastic for the shoulder bridge connection in the back. Assuming you are doing an ANH setup. THere's no nylon anywhere. The whole thing is elastic. Also, don't forget white industrial velcro for the backs of the calves.

If you go back a few pages you"ll see where I dropped my knee ammo pack in boiling water for about a minute and I was able to soften it enough to form it around the thigh. I should have done that for the sniper plate too.

I reshaped it some more with the boiling water. That E-6000 sure took a beating before softening up a little. Only the parts that were boiled the most came up a little. The CA glue + accelerator crap snap crackle popped off a while ago. I don't recommend the CA glue on any parts that have to flex or bend. Biceps, thighs and forearms are fine, but shins, snap plates, and the shoulder bridges should be glued with E-6000 unless you want them to snap off. This also answers my question about whether the armor could deform in the heat of the sun. Not unless it's as hot as boiling water (100 °C or 212 °F)! The shin will take some creative velcroing to sit right. More on that when the velcro arrives. For now, belt and shoulder bridge assembly!

All right, back to the stove to boil some more...

Any advice on this?

Here you can see the right shin is 9 cm in the middle The left is not even 7cm across Where do I apply the pressure? I'm already starting to warp the back seam with all this heat

All right, I've had it with the ATA shins. This is ridiculous. The left is so wildly different than the right it's a joke. I followed the measurements exactly I just spent an hour boiling the thing, burning myself, and fighting it to shape into a circle with NO luck. I changed the shape of it a little bit but obviously not enough to make a difference I feel like throwing in the towel, I'm this close to giving up. If I can't make this work, I'm gonna sell the whole thing and get a TM kit Just remember, you get what you pay for, and anything that says "affordable" in front of it is probably low quality.

Spot on Batman, my friend I would wear that sucker everywhere

Yeah, I've cut the corners, cut and fitted the inner and outer drop boxes, and am polishing up the edges of the button covers. They're not glued on, just placed there to make sure I'm doing everything right My MAIN problem is the same as it has been: This stupid left shin!!! Still too oval! I've tried the blow dryer, I've tried hot water. Maybe more hot water treatments will help... Til then, I shake my fist in anger Seriously, did anyone else have this hard of a time? I measured both calves exactly the same and the left one barely fits around my ankle and if I move it pops right open, whereas the right is perfectly fine. What do I do???

Where did you get those bubbles?

Looking forward to this buid!!

In the first picture it seems to be the same width as the space between the boxes. I'll go 42.5 to be safe

Now that I've gotten my new belt, the question is where do I cut it to be accurate? Do I just cut the ends to the same width as the space between the boxes? Here's where I'm at:

I need a bit of advice on my belt. I am seeing conflicting measurements regarding where to cut on the ends. I swear I heard 45mm from the last box, which is how I cut my inaccurate belt. However this diagram shows 1 1/2 inches from the last box. http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/Billhag/TK%20Armour%20Help/MainKneeAmmobeltdims03.jpg Which is more accurate? Here's another thread in which TM himself says 40 mm http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/24261-lemaxims-rs-pvc-anh-stunt-build-rs-wip/page-2 Which is it?? Here's what it looks lie marked at about 40 mm from each side. Placed next to the older belt for comparison

Oh the irony

Let's see a test fit!

BTW, success!

Lefties were born screen accurate!! I love being a lefty!

Great looking TK's right here. Way to represent the 501st Look for that interview!!

Some time ago before I ever fathomed I would be a trooper, I was a toy collector. I had gotten a very rare, sought after Power Rangers toy which had electronics. In the process of refurbishing it I accidentally broke one of the internal wires. I was devastated. Luckily I had a friend who was skilled with electronics and was willing to solder the wire back together. What we found was that the toy was louder, brighter, and faster than ever. My point: If you are taking your Hasbro apart, realize that these are made in huge amounts and they use a minimal amount of cheap solder to save money. If you have any skill with electronics (which I don't), you can go in and strengthen all the cheap brittle solder connections with new, good solder, and your E-11 would be screaming loud and bright! Is this standard practice anyway? I just had the thought last night and wanted to share.

I'll have you know I've spent a lot of time and effort making my white boots look like they were originally black and painted white. Yours look awesome and with some weathering from trooping they will look even more accurate